NCAA Basketball Picks: Must Bet Matches for Opening Week

NCAA Basketball is finally back. After a long wait, NCAA Basketball is finally here, and we are excited to kick off Monday’s slate with an inside look at the best games to bet on. This should be an interesting season with a ton of new faces, players on the move, and stats that stayed at their respective schools. Let’s dive into this week and give you the best bets for NCAA basketball in week one so you can place your bets against their NCAA Basketball Odds.

Who are the best teams to bet on during Week One of College Basketball?

UNC Wilmington Seahawks vs UNC Tar Heels (-23)

The North Carolina Tar Heels‘ opening game in their quest for another deep March run will be against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks on Monday in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels make the list as they enter this campaign as one of the favorites to win the national championship after bringing in Pete Nance (Northwestern), one of the most highly sought-after transfers of the offseason, to join the four returning players from the previous campaign.

Under Takayo Siddle as head coach, the Seahawks had a very successful 2021–2022 season, finishing 27-9 overall. The Seahawks will look very different this season, however in that, they will be without four of their top five scorers, which does not look good for them in this particular game versus the Tar Heels. To make matters worse, they will have to travel to Chapel Hill, and that is a tall task for new players in their first away game.

Trust the Tar Heels go blow past the Seahawks in their opener at home.

UTEP Miners vs Texas Longhorns (-21)

The Texas Longhorns come into this matchup ranked No. 12 in the nation in preseason polls. Three starters from a team that went 21-12 return, and they boast one of the top recruiting classes in the nation with two top-20 players as well as bringing in the Big-12 Freshmen of the year in Tyrese Hunter (Iowa State). The Longhorns’ defense is strong, and many of their players have embraced the defensive scheme as it has become their calling card in Austin. Look for that defensive strategy to continue in this game because the Miners will struggle to score on the road. This will make it simpler for the Texas Longhorns to claim victory in this particular game.

The UTEP Miners are in full rebuild mode as they return just one starter from a 20-17 squad last year. Their best player and leading scorer, Souley Bohm, transferred to Xavier, while their second top scorer graduated. The Miners are projected to finish seventh in their conference, and they will have to face a loaded Texas squad on the road.

Back Texas with confidence, as they should cover the spread with ease.

CSU Fullerton vs San Diego State (-21.5)

This game should be easy for the Aztecs to win by a wide margin. It’s never simple to cover a 21.5-point spread, but I’d trust SDSU’s potent defense to get the job done. The physicality of the Aztecs will be difficult for the Titans to handle because they have many new players on their roster and still have a lot of things to learn on both sides of the ball.

The size and power of SDSU will be too much for the Titans. The Aztecs’ defense is anticipated to once again be among the top in the nation. All-conference guard Matt Bradley and Mountain West defensive player of the year Nathan Mensah are among the others who are back and what I really love about this squad is that they have a veteran squad with nine of their best players being juniors or seniors.

The San Diego State Aztecs come into this matchup ranked No. 19 in the country and expect them to completely dismantle and break a young Fullerton team at home.